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Your Fear of The Unknown Keeps You From The Truth of The Known · Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)

• 0:08
  Suze: October 23rd, 2025. Welcome everybody to the Women and Money podcast,
• 0:13
  Suze: and everybody smart enough to listen. So...
• 0:18
  Suze: We have pre-recorded this because as you know, we, as
• 0:23
  Suze: you're listening to this, we are in Italy.
• 0:26
  KT: I think we're in Sienna having an incredible, incredible lunch.
• 0:32
  KT: Pasta with truffles and mm, delicious!
• 0:36
  Suze: You know, we're just having the time of our lives.
• 0:38
  KT: Yeah, we're painting up a storm.
• 0:40
  Suze: Anyway, so for your pleasure.
• 0:44
  Suze: We will now do a pre-recorded Ask KT and Suze Anything.
• 0:49
  Suze: Go for it, Mi Amor. Was that Spanish?
• 0:55
  KT: (KT sings a little of Amore)
• 1:01
  KT: I'm gonna sing for you. OK, so hi KT and Suze,
• 1:04
  KT: this is for KT.
• 1:06
  KT: Been enjoying your podcast and especially the Ask KT and
• 1:11
  KT: Suze anything part. My question's a bit complicated and sorry
• 1:16
  KT: for the long email. And here's her question. So Sarah said, Suze,
• 1:21
  KT: my mom passed in 2005. She created a trust before
• 1:27
  KT: she passed that made it so my sister and I
• 1:30
  KT: inherited her home.
• 1:32
  KT: With the provision that her husband, not our father, could
• 1:36
  KT: live in the house as long as he was able
• 1:40
  KT: to reimburse us for the amount of the mortgage payment
• 1:44
  KT: each month.
• 1:45
  KT: Fast forward 20 years later, her husband passed in 2024.
• 1:51
  KT: We sold the house this year for 1.1 million. At
• 1:56
  KT: the time of my mom's passing in 2005, we had
• 2:01
  KT: two real estate agents give us a written estimate of
• 2:04
  KT: the value of the house at about 900,000.
• 2:09
  KT: Since I want to make sure I am prepared and
• 2:12
  KT: not surprised by a tax bill for 2025, do we
• 2:17
  KT: report capital gains on the difference between the value at
• 2:21
  KT: her passing of 900,000 and the sale price of 1.1?
• 2:27
  Suze: There you go, KT. This is an email that I answered.
• 2:32
  KT: Oh, you spoke to Sarah.
• 2:33
  Suze: I answered her, right, to the best of my ability. However,
• 2:39
  Suze: for those of you who happen to have questions, write
• 2:43
  Suze: in to ask Suze podcast@gmail.com, and you never know when
• 2:49
  Suze: because I scroll them.
• 2:51
  Suze: And if one catches my eye for whatever reason, I
• 2:56
  Suze: will write you back the answer. Now in this particular situation, KT,
• 3:03
  Suze: here's what I didn't know, but I wrote her back.
• 3:08
  Suze: If the trust that her mother left.
• 3:12
  Suze: Used the words that I am leaving a life estate
• 3:17
  Suze: to my husband.
• 3:19
  Suze: Then the truth of the matter is Sarah would use
• 3:23
  Suze: the $1.1 million number, and that is what she then
• 3:30
  Suze: would owe taxes on, which would probably mean nothing. She'd
• 3:33
  Suze: probably get everything tax free at that point, no capital gain.
• 3:37
  Suze: Because her cost basis would be what it was when
• 3:41
  Suze: her mother's husband passed, not when her mother passed.
• 3:47
  KT: OK.
• 3:47
  Suze: All right, but it's got to say that in the trust.
• 3:50
  Suze: It's got to say life estate if it just says,
• 3:56
  Suze: take care of my husband. Make sure he pays for everything,
• 4:01
  Suze: blah blah blah, but doesn't specifically say that.
• 4:05
  Suze: Then chances are she's going to owe taxes from the
• 4:09
  Suze: 900,000 to what she sold it for the 1.1 million.
• 4:14
  Suze: Now obviously she can take off real estate commission, all
• 4:17
  Suze: kinds of things like that, but the key here, everybody
• 4:21
  Suze: is this.
• 4:23
  Suze: You have a home and you're living in it with
• 4:26
  Suze: your spouse.
• 4:28
  Suze: And if you die, you want that home to pass
• 4:31
  Suze: to your children because maybe the spouse is not
• 4:36
  Suze: the kid's father or mother, whatever it may be, make
• 4:41
  Suze: sure that if you own it in trust, that in
• 4:45
  Suze: the trust it says that you are leaving a life
• 4:48
  Suze: estate to your spouse or whoever you're leaving it to,
• 4:53
  Suze: it doesn't even have to be your spouse that way
• 4:56
  Suze: upon that person's death,
• 4:59
  Suze: your kids or your beneficiaries will get a step up
• 5:03
  Suze: in basis as to the value of that asset upon
• 5:06
  Suze: the death of that person that had the life estate.
• 5:11
  Suze: Just know that. So either way though, capital gains tax
• 5:16
  Suze: is not going to be that horrific on this property.
• 5:20
  Suze: All right, go on.
• 5:22
  KT: OK, next question is from Rhonda. Hi, Suze and KT.
• 5:27
  KT: I have a question on when to take Social Security.
• 5:31
  KT: My husband and I are retired. I'm 62 and he's 63.
• 5:36
  KT: We live comfortably with 2 million in investments and several
• 5:41
  KT: rental properties that are paid for.
• 5:43
  KT: And this is sad, Suze, she said our 17-year-old son
• 5:48
  KT: passed several years ago. This has resulted in my husband
• 5:52
  KT: drinking a lot, and he has been a smoker for
• 5:56
  KT: over 39 years. He's a good man but has suffered
• 6:01
  KT: from depression throughout his life.
• 6:03
  KT: I can imagine how depressed he's been since his son passed, Suze.
• 6:08
  Suze: You never get over that.
• 6:09
  KT: No, never, ever. He also has high blood pressure and
• 6:13
  KT: high cholesterol, which he takes medication for. We could easily
• 6:18
  KT: wait until we're both 70 to draw Social Security, but
• 6:22
  KT: given his health, I'm wondering if we should start to
• 6:26
  KT: draw mine early. It is about 1/3 of what his is.
• 6:32
  KT: So thank you all for both you do love and blessings, Rhonda.
• 6:38
  KT: What do you think?
• 6:39
  Suze: I know this is gonna sound strange, but first of all,
• 6:42
  Suze: always our condolences for the past loss, always, always, always.
• 6:47
  Suze: People just because they have high blood pressure, they drink,
• 6:52
  Suze: they smoke, they do all the things that you think
• 6:55
  Suze: should kill them.
• 6:58
  Suze: Sometimes they will live longer than you, believe it or not.
• 7:02
  Suze: So if I were you, given what you have, that
• 7:06
  Suze: you really don't need your Social Security, you have 2
• 7:10
  Suze: million in investments, several rental properties that are giving you income,
• 7:14
  Suze: you're fine financially speaking. I would withdraw my Social Security,
• 7:20
  Suze: but not before the age of 67.
• 7:24
  Suze: So just withdraw it starting in a few years. You
• 7:28
  Suze: say you're 62, so that's five years from now. That's
• 7:32
  Suze: when I would withdraw it at your full retirement age,
• 7:36
  Suze: otherwise you're going to take a penalty because you're under
• 7:41
  Suze: full retirement age, and it's really not worth it.
• 7:45
  Suze: And obviously when he dies you're just going to take
• 7:48
  Suze: over his full Social Security, so hopefully he will make
• 7:54
  Suze: it till he's 70, and he should wait till he's
• 7:58
  Suze: 70 because you'll just take it over at that point
• 8:01
  Suze: in time, which will be a whole lot higher.
• 8:05
  Suze: So therefore that is the answer to your question. Ok.
• 8:09
  KT: Suze, I picked this next question cause it sounds a
• 8:12
  KT: little desperate. It said, Pick me, pick me, please, KT,
• 8:15
  KT: pick me. Hello, Suze and KT, I need some advice
• 8:19
  KT: on protecting myself financially. I live in a community property state.
• 8:25
  KT: My marriage of 14 years is circling the drain.
• 8:30
  KT: Last year I separated my income into a checking and
• 8:34
  KT: savings account that my husband does not have access to.
• 8:39
  KT: Since my name is still on a couple of his
• 8:41
  KT: credit cards used without my consent and on the joint
• 8:45
  KT: checking account, I am still getting hit financially when he
• 8:50
  KT: misses a credit card payment or overdraws the joint checking account.
• 8:55
  KT: He is now saying he wants all of the credit
• 8:57
  KT: card debt to go to collections because he doesn't have
• 9:01
  KT: any money to pay them. I am very discouraged. I've
• 9:05
  KT: been telling him for over a year that he needs
• 9:08
  KT: to find a job for consistent income and work out
• 9:12
  KT: paying off his debt. He claims his medical issues prevent
• 9:16
  KT: him from working, but he doesn't have debilitating medical issues.
• 9:22
  KT: Then she goes on to say, I am highly considering
• 9:25
  KT: filing for divorce, something he has periodically threatened to do
• 9:30
  KT: for the last 10 years, but I'm concerned about how
• 9:34
  KT: things will turn out. I feel very used and insecure financially.
• 9:39
  KT: The worry and stress of this is drawing so much
• 9:43
  KT: of my attention, and I'm exhausted.
• 9:46
  KT: Any advice you have for this situation would be greatly appreciated.
• 9:50
  Suze: Do we have her age anywhere in there?
• 9:52
  KT: No, unfortunately not.
• 9:55
  Suze: All right, so here's the thing, girlfriend, which is this your
• 9:59
  Suze: situation is not simple.
• 10:02
  Suze: And it's probably more complex than this email says, because
• 10:07
  Suze: this has been going on for a long, long time.
• 10:12
  Suze: So the real answer to this is, why have you stayed?
• 10:17
  Suze: More than me telling you what you should do, I
• 10:21
  Suze: need you to ask yourself, why haven't you done what
• 10:26
  Suze: you know you should do? You say in this email
• 10:29
  Suze: that you should divorce him. You're thinking about it. He
• 10:33
  Suze: threatens you with divorce. What is keeping the two of
• 10:37
  Suze: you together?
• 10:39
  Suze: Chances are you are afraid that if you divorce him
• 10:44
  Suze: at this point he's going to come after half your money,
• 10:47
  Suze: he's going to do this, he's going to do that,
• 10:49
  Suze: who knows what.
• 10:51
  Suze: But your fear of the unknown.
• 10:55
  Suze: Is keeping you from the truth of the known.
• 11:00
  Suze: Do you want me to say that again?
• 11:03
  Suze: Your fear of the unknown. What's going to happen if
• 11:06
  Suze: you divorce, if you leave him.
• 11:08
  Suze: Is keeping you from the truth of the known.
• 11:12
  Suze: And the truth of the known is, he is a
• 11:16
  Suze: financial disaster. He is hurting you financially. You are stressed out.
• 11:22
  Suze: You are miserable. You know you want to divorce him.
• 11:26
  Suze: And you know you need to move on, and the
• 11:30
  Suze: only way for you to move on.
• 11:33
  Suze: In my opinion,
• 11:35
  Suze: is to face the known, stand in the truth, and
• 11:41
  Suze: do what you are afraid to do, which is divorce him.
• 11:47
  Suze: The sooner you can separate your finances from him.
• 11:51
  Suze: And then you know what you have, you know what
• 11:55
  Suze: you can do, you know everything that is yours from
• 11:59
  Suze: that point on and that you can build upon it.
• 12:03
  Suze: Then you won't be stressed. You won't be insecure, and
• 12:08
  Suze: you won't feel very used. Now, in this email you
• 12:14
  Suze: use the words I feel very used and insecure financially.
• 12:21
  Suze: Who's using you?
• 12:23
  Suze: Who is making you feel insecure.
• 12:28
  Suze: You're using yourself. You're using excuses to keep you in
• 12:33
  Suze: a situation that you know you need to leave.
• 12:36
  Suze: You feel insecure financially because you know you are not
• 12:41
  Suze: doing that what you need to do financially to separate
• 12:46
  Suze: everything from him. Hey, at the beginning of your email
• 12:49
  Suze: you say you separated your checking account, your money, all
• 12:54
  Suze: of that.
• 12:56
  Suze: You now need to take the final step and separate everything.
• 13:04
  Suze: Don't be afraid.
• 13:06
  Suze: I've talked to thousands of women who have written emails
• 13:11
  Suze: exactly like this one, and then years later I hear
• 13:16
  Suze: from them. Suze, that was the best thing I ever did.
• 13:19
  Suze: Oh my God, Suze, I finally own a home on
• 13:22
  Suze: my own. Oh Suze, I own property. I own this.
• 13:26
  Suze: I own that. Oh Suze, I've saved a million dollars
• 13:30
  Suze: in my Roth retirement account.
• 13:33
  Suze: Don't be afraid to do that which you know you
• 13:37
  Suze: should do. What's making you miserable right now isn't him.
• 13:42
  Suze: What's making you miserable right now is that you are
• 13:46
  Suze: lacking the courage to do that which you know you
• 13:49
  Suze: should do for yourself. Just saying.
• 13:54
  Suze: All right, KT, what do you got next?
• 13:56
  KT: OK, Suze, next question is from Mario. I love when
• 14:00
  KT: I get the men questions.
• 14:03
  Suze: KT, you love when you get any questions.
• 14:05
  KT: Yeah, but I like when we have the men smart
• 14:08
  KT: enough to listen participating. So how do Mario asked, how
• 14:14
  KT: do I get rid of a collection account which is
• 14:17
  KT: six years and nine months old? I'll tell him, pay it off.
• 14:22
  Suze: No, you get rid of it if you just simply
• 14:24
  Suze: wait three more months, it will go away.
• 14:28
  Suze: So something that is on a credit report such as
• 14:32
  Suze: a collection account stays on for seven years. At that
• 14:37
  Suze: point it comes off. So you have three more months
• 14:41
  Suze: to wait. Next question, KT.
• 14:43
  KT: All right, so next question, Suze.
• 14:46
  KT: This listener said, I have a Roth with about $850,000.
• 14:52
  Suze: That's good!
• 14:52
  KT: A regular IRA with $775,000 and a regular investment account
• 15:01
  KT: with $1.2 million.
• 15:04
  Suze: That's my person.
• 15:06
  Suze: See, listen, I just have to say something. All of
• 15:09
  Suze: you out there may be wondering how do these people
• 15:13
  Suze: have so much money. You want to know how? They've
• 15:17
  Suze: been listening to me for 40 years. They've been doing
• 15:21
  Suze: everything I have told them to do, and now most
• 15:24
  Suze: of them honest to God,
• 15:25
  Suze: are multimillionaires. So what are you doing if you're brand new,
• 15:30
  Suze: you're gonna be listening and listening and listening and doing
• 15:34
  Suze: and doing and doing.
• 15:36
  KT: OK, so this, this, uh, listener says I take my
• 15:40
  KT: required RMDs and about $24,000 out of my regular account.
• 15:47
  KT: I would like to gift my kids the 19,000 allowed
• 15:51
  KT: every year and was wondering if taking it out of
• 15:55
  KT: my Roth would be the prudent thing to do.
• 15:58
  Suze: It would be prudent for you because you won't have
• 16:01
  Suze: to pay taxes on it.
• 16:02
  Suze: But if you want to be prudent for your kids,
• 16:06
  Suze: leave your Roth intact, take the money out of either
• 16:11
  Suze: your investment account or even your traditional IRA and just
• 16:15
  Suze: pay taxes on it because you're not in that high
• 16:18
  Suze: of a tax bracket.
• 16:19
  Suze: And let your money compound tax free because on your
• 16:24
  Suze: death all the money in the Roth goes to your
• 16:27
  Suze: kids tax free. The money in your regular IRA, it's
• 16:32
  Suze: going to be totally taxable to them. So if I
• 16:34
  Suze: were you, I would draw
• 16:36
  Suze: down the IRA more than anything else. Go on.
• 16:40
  KT: And now this is from Laura. Good afternoon, KT and Suze.
• 16:45
  KT: I'm 62. My 401k Roth retirement account at work was
• 16:51
  KT: opened in April 2022.
• 16:54
  KT: Would it be better to wait until I hit the
• 16:57
  KT: five year rule, or can I take my contributions and
• 17:02
  KT: roll that over into my existing Roth IRA?
• 17:05
  Suze: Pop quizzy, pop quizzy.
• 17:06
  KT: OK, ready, everybody. Laura's 62...
• 17:10
  Suze: Yes.
• 17:11
  KT: And 59 and a half was that lucky number.
• 17:14
  Suze: But that's just for the penalty. Taxes, however, the account
• 17:18
  Suze: has been open for five years. That's the question she's
• 17:22
  Suze: asking here.
• 17:23
  KT: So she's asking, can I take my contributions and roll
• 17:27
  KT: that over into my existing Roth IRA?
• 17:31
  Suze: Yes, but her 401k has only been open for how long, KT?
• 17:36
  KT: Since 2022.
• 17:37
  Suze: So that's three years, right, so...
• 17:40
  KT: Two more to go.
• 17:41
  Suze: So should she leave it there till all five years
• 17:45
  Suze: are met? This is her question, or should she roll
• 17:49
  Suze: it to her IRA Roth?
• 17:53
  KT: Hm.
• 17:56
  Suze: Tick tick tick...
• 17:57
  KT: I think, I think you have to wait for the
• 18:00
  KT: five year rule. (Suze makes the wrong answer sound) Oh wait,
• 18:03
  KT: you so you could wait. Oh yeah, they're both Roths. Sorry, sorry, mistake.
• 18:07
  KT: It wasn't a 401k. It's a 401k Roth. So the
• 18:11
  KT: answer is yes, you can, because they're both Roths.
• 18:15
  Suze: No, because...
• 18:17
  KT: Is that why?
• 18:18
  Suze: No, when you take a 401k that's maybe even been
• 18:22
  Suze: there 10 years.
• 18:24
  Suze: When you roll it to a Roth IRA, that rollover
• 18:30
  Suze: takes on the time clock of your Roth IRA, right,
• 18:35
  Suze: so just so you know, so if her Roth 401k, KT,
• 18:40
  Suze: had been open for seven years, her Roth IRA for
• 18:44
  Suze: only one.
• 18:46
  Suze: And then she rolled it to her Roth IRA. Now
• 18:50
  Suze: all of it would only have a one year time clock.
• 18:53
  Suze: She would have lost all those years of her Roth 401k.
• 18:57
  KT: All right, good.
• 18:58
  Suze: All right.
• 18:59
  KT: So the next question's from Tina, she said, guidance needed, please.
• 19:04
  KT: I am 57, have two kids, 25 and 27. One
• 19:09
  KT: still at home. Both are employed and self-sufficient with no
• 19:13
  KT: student loan debt. That's great.
• 19:16
  KT: I live with my boyfriend of 17 years. We make
• 19:20
  KT: about the same income. The house is in his name
• 19:23
  KT: and paid off. I have no debt. I use one
• 19:27
  KT: credit card and pay it off each month. Here's where
• 19:30
  KT: I need your help. 11 years ago, I was sold
• 19:34
  KT: a whole life policy. Yes, I know that was a
• 19:37
  KT: bad decision.
• 19:39
  KT: The policy has a face amount of 250,000 and a
• 19:44
  KT: cash value of over 100,000. Final premium was paid last year.
• 19:50
  KT: Should I keep it or take all of the cash
• 19:53
  KT: value and surrender it?
• 19:56
  KT: I've already got a quote for a 20 year term,
• 19:59
  KT: same face amount as the whole life, so I know
• 20:03
  KT: if I decide insurance is needed I can get it
• 20:07
  KT: and would do so before I decide the fate of
• 20:10
  KT: the whole life policy.
• 20:12
  KT: There is no one in my life who has the
• 20:15
  KT: knowledge to help me. We both know the agent who
• 20:18
  KT: sold it to me is not going to be a
• 20:21
  KT: reliable source. Would you be able to share your opinions, Suze, please?
• 20:26
  Suze: You know, I always say that you normally don't ask
• 20:29
  Suze: a question that you don't know the answer to already.
• 20:32
  Suze: If it were me.
• 20:34
  Suze: And I knew my kids were going to be OK
• 20:37
  Suze: and everything. I would cash it out, just check and
• 20:40
  Suze: make sure no taxes are going to be owed. I'm
• 20:43
  Suze: sure you put more money in there than the cash value,
• 20:46
  Suze: so it should be tax free, and I would take
• 20:49
  Suze: that and I would invest it for your own future.
• 20:53
  Suze: And if you feel like you need insurance for the kids,
• 20:55
  Suze: I would do the term insurance. However...
• 20:59
  Suze: My concern isn't about this insurance policy, and it's not
• 21:04
  Suze: about your kids. It's about you. You live in a
• 21:09
  Suze: home with your boyfriend of 17 years. The house is
• 21:14
  Suze: in his name and is paid off.
• 21:19
  Suze: Can you tell me, but you can't cause you can't
• 21:22
  Suze: hear me now, but you will. But anyway, can you
• 21:26
  Suze: tell me what happens if he's killed in a car
• 21:29
  Suze: crash tomorrow? Does he have a trust? Has that house
• 21:35
  Suze: been left for you in trust, or does he simply
• 21:39
  Suze: even have a will that leaves it to you?
• 21:42
  Suze: And then it has to go through probate, and then
• 21:44
  Suze: you're going to have to pay a whole lot of
• 21:46
  Suze: money and wait for a long time to get that house.
• 21:50
  Suze: What if all of a sudden he's in a car
• 21:52
  Suze: accident and he's incapacitated, he's not dead, but you need
• 21:57
  Suze: to sell that house because you now need money to
• 22:00
  Suze: take care of him or whatever it is. You can't
• 22:03
  Suze: sell that house because why? You don't own that house.
• 22:07
  Suze: He can't sign for that house.
• 22:10
  Suze: So the real question is here, what have you done
• 22:14
  Suze: to take care of yourself if he doesn't have a
• 22:19
  Suze: living revocable trust and a will.
• 22:22
  Suze: Then what you need to do is you need to, today,
• 22:25
  Suze: go to musthavedocs.com and get the must-have docs for $99.
• 22:31
  Suze: $2,500 dollars worth of state of the art documents good
• 22:34
  Suze: in all 50 states. He should take that, put the
• 22:39
  Suze: house in trust just in his name with you as
• 22:42
  Suze: beneficiary and you as successor trustee.
• 22:46
  Suze: And if something were to happen to both you and
• 22:49
  Suze: him at the same time, what's going to happen to
• 22:51
  Suze: your kids? Where does that house go?
• 22:55
  Suze: Intestate succession, it goes to his nearest relatives if he
• 23:01
  Suze: doesn't have a will, which are not your kids and
• 23:05
  Suze: it's not even you.
• 23:07
  Suze: Because you're not married to him. You got to think
• 23:10
  Suze: about that more important than this life insurance policy, to
• 23:13
  Suze: tell you the truth, next KT.
• 23:17
  Suze: You are not expecting that.
• 23:19
  KT: I wasn't.
• 23:20
  Suze: Ms. Travis. I know you.
• 23:23
  Suze: Right, you were expecting that I was going to get
• 23:26
  Suze: so mad at her for the whole life policy, but
• 23:31
  Suze: that's not what I was upset about. Do you see?
• 23:33
  Suze: All right, go on.
• 23:34
  KT: All right. Next question is from Gwen. Gwen says, Suze,
• 23:39
  KT: I've been listening to your show on and off for
• 23:42
  KT: the past five years. Gwen, you should only listen to
• 23:44
  KT: the show on, not off.
• 23:47
  Suze: That does not necessarily endear you to me.
• 23:51
  KT: I've been listening to your show, you can get rid
• 23:53
  KT: of the off part for the past five years. She said,
• 23:56
  KT: I retired 4 years ago and I am 67 years
• 24:00
  KT: of age. I want to move the funds of the
• 24:03
  KT: traditional IRA to a Roth, but I was told that
• 24:07
  KT: I could not do it because I am retired. Is
• 24:11
  KT: this true?
• 24:13
  Suze: This is why you have got to listen every single show.
• 24:18
  KT: Yeah, not off.
• 24:20
  Suze: Right? Not off, because you would know whoever gave you
• 24:23
  Suze: this advice is an idiot, is an idiot, is 100% wrong,
• 24:28
  Suze: and is an idiot. So therefore, never ask this person
• 24:32
  Suze: for advice again. You could convert any time you want.
• 24:37
  Suze: It does not matter your income, no income, age, nothing
• 24:41
  Suze: from a traditional to a Roth any time. You have
• 24:44
  Suze: to have earned income to do a contributory Roth IRA
• 24:49
  Suze: or even a traditional IRA for that matter, where you
• 24:52
  Suze: put money in every year. Idiot. Was there another question?
• 24:57
  KT: From Gwen?
• 24:58
  Suze: Yeah.
• 24:59
  KT: Gwen's talking now about her grandchildren. She said the next
• 25:03
  KT: question is helping
• 25:05
  KT: my young grandchildren. Money you spend to assist with minor
• 25:09
  KT: grand school tuition. Can you write it off on your taxes?
• 25:13
  Suze: No. Next question, KT.
• 25:15
  KT: That's it.
• 25:16
  Suze: We're off of Gwen. I get it. That was a joke, Gwenny.
• 25:20
  Suze: Just joking with you. All right.
• 25:22
  KT: OK, Suze, we have one more question, and it's from CW.
• 25:26
  Suze: CW!
• 25:27
  KT: CW. Traditional IRA question. We only have traditional IRAs. Don't ask.
• 25:36
  KT: This is... CW didn't even want to put their full name.
• 25:40
  KT: We are 70 and 73, and my husband is subject
• 25:44
  KT: to a large RMD. My question: is it better to
• 25:49
  KT: do an in-kind withdrawal? For example, shares of a mutual
• 25:54
  KT: fund with a robust and consistent capital gain distribution or cash?
• 26:00
  KT: Many thanks for all that you and KT do.
• 26:04
  KT: There you go. That's your finale.
• 26:06
  Suze: KT. What is an in-kind contribution?
• 26:08
  KT: I don't know what that means.
• 26:10
  Suze: I'm so surprised. You should have said to me, what
• 26:12
  Suze: is an in-kind distribution, Suze? But anyway, I'll just tell everybody.
• 26:19
  Suze: So first of all, CW, here's the thing.
• 26:23
  Suze: Whether you take money out as an RMD in-kind meaning
• 26:29
  Suze: in the stock or the mutual fund shares that you
• 26:32
  Suze: actually own or in cash, both of those you are
• 26:36
  Suze: going to owe ordinary income tax on it. Now if
• 26:41
  Suze: you do an in-kind distribution.
• 26:46
  Suze: Of these mutual funds that have, here's the key, that
• 26:50
  Suze: have a consistent capital gains distribution meaning at the end
• 26:54
  Suze: of the year, KT they distribute to CW all of
• 26:59
  Suze: this money as a capital gain. You're going to owe
• 27:03
  Suze: taxes on that if you take it as an R&D,
• 27:08
  Suze: have it now in an investment account.
• 27:11
  Suze: So not only are you going to owe taxes on
• 27:14
  Suze: the capital gain distribution when you hold it, but if
• 27:18
  Suze: this goes up and up in value when you sell it,
• 27:21
  Suze: you're going to owe more taxes on it again.
• 27:24
  Suze: So if it were me, I would probably just take
• 27:27
  Suze: it in cash, but either way you're going to owe
• 27:32
  Suze: taxes on the original distribution for the RMD. All right, KT,
• 27:39
  Suze: that's a wrap. Take us out, girlfriend.
• 27:41
  KT: All right, there's only one thing we both want you
• 27:44
  KT: to remember, and that is this. I'm going to say
• 27:47
  KT: it in Italian.
• 27:49
  Suze: Oh, good luck. Go on.
• 27:51
  KT: I'll do it in English. People first, then I, then things.
• 27:56
  KT: Now you stay safe.
• 27:58
  Suze: All right, everybody,
• 28:01
  Suze: bye bye now.